

C / 


THE MERIT SYSTEM 


IN 

MARYLAND 


With a Brief History of the Merit System Movement 
in the Federal Government-and an 


APPENDIX 

A 

Containing the United States and Maryland 
Statutes Relating to the Merit System 


By WALTER H. BUCK, ESQ. 

(Of the Baltimore Bar) 

Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Civil Service 
Reform Association of Maryland 


; >*> 


BALTIMORE, JUNE 30, 1919 





















Civil Service Reform Association 

of Maryland 


OFFICERS 


President 

Osborne I. Yellott, Calvert Building, Baltimore 


Vice-Presidents 


Randolph Barton, Sr. 
Charles J. Bonaparte 
W. Cabell Bruce 
Frank J. Goodnow 


Joseph Packard 
William Reynolds 
John C. Rose 
DeCourcy W. Thom 


Secretary Pro Tern. 

Charles M. Falconer, Gay and Water Sts., Baltimore 

T reasurer 

Jesse N. Bowen, Equitable Building, Baltimore 


Additional Members , Executive Committee 
Walter H. Buck, Chairman, Union Trust Building, Baltimore 


Heyward E. Boyce 
A. Roszel Cathcart 
William T. Childs 
Edward Duffy 
Charles M. Falconer 
Henry P. Hynson 
Henry Barton Jacobs 
J. Hemsley Johnson 
John H. Latane 
Sylvan H. Lauchheimer 
Oscar Leser 


Edwin W. Levering, Jr. 
J. Barry Mahool 
William H. Matthai 
Alfred S. Niles 
W. Champlin Robinson 
Edward Stabler, Jr. 
John T. Stone 
A. Morris Tyson 
John Watson, Jr. 
Raymond S. Williams 
J. Appleton Wilson 








CIVIL SERVICE REFORM IN MARYLAND 

By Walter H. Buck 


A proper administration of the Merit System in both National 
and State affairs is essential if orderly and efficient government is 
to be obtained. The present outline is written to clear up some 
points not thoroughly understood and to show the present situa¬ 
tion of affairs both Federal and State. 

In the first place, contrary to the popular view, nothing could 
be more un-American than the Merit System’s rival—that is, the 
Spoils System, which is in fact a survival of feudalism. In a com¬ 
prehensive article in Volume 6 of the Encyclopedia Britcinnica , it is 
shown that at the time of the adoption of the Constitution of the 
United States the views of the leading American statesmen were 
absolutely opposed to the removal from office of persons for political 
reasons, such removals and the consequent appointments having 
been one of the chief abuses during the reign of George III. 

The Merit System in the Federal Government 

In the Federal Service, it was not until 1829 that any attempt at 
a change was made, and at that time a politician from Georgia 
secured the passage of a law allowing removals, which was designed 
to further his own political ambitions. However, nothing was done 
under this law until 1836 during the administration of President 
Jackson, at which time the Spoils System was introduced in the 
Federal Service, though in some of the States, notably New York, 
appointments and removals for political reasons had been made. 

At this point two misconceptions should be cleared up: (1) 
President Jackson was by conviction, repeatedly stated, opposed 
to the Spoils System, and (2) Secretary of State Marcy, and not 
President Jackson, was the author of the famous (or infamous) 
saying, “To the victors belong the spoils of the enemy.’’ See 
McMaster’s History of the People of the United States. 

Despite Jackson’s convictions to the contrary, his course of 
action in inaugurating the Spoils System in the Federal Service 
can be traced to his bitter contests for the Presidency with John 
Quincy Adams. In the first contest Jackson received more popular 
votes than Adams, but did not get enough votes in the Electoral 



2 


College to win, and under the Constitution the decision was thrown 
into the House of Representatives. Clay, as Speaker, controlled 
the House, and by his influence elected Adams—this action being 
described by Jackson and his friends as the result of a “corrupt 
bargain” between Adams and Clay, whom Adams appointed Secre¬ 
tary of State. Though Jackson apparently believed that there was 
such a “corrupt bargain,” there is no good reason to suppose that 
any such bargain was ever made. 

In the second contest between the same candidates, Jackson was 
much incensed because the Federal officeholders sided with Adams 
and voted for him as a unit, and after Jackson’s election by a tre¬ 
mendous popular majority, he, at once, began to remove office¬ 
holders from their positions. It was this unfortunate combination 
of circumstances that gave rise to the Spoils System in the Federal 
Service of this country. It then became the settled practice to 
remove all Federal officeholders when a new President was elected, 
with the logical result that pandemonium raged at such times and 
the pressure for jobs was so great as to constitute a serious menace 
in Washington. 

It all culminated in November, 1882, in the assassination of 
President Garfield by a disappointed officeseeker. This startling 
occurrence and the abuses which had made such a result possible 
aroused the country, and the first Civil Service Act was passed 
January 16, 1883. It can be found with its amendments in the 
United States Compiled Statutes, Sections 3271 to 3287, inclusive. 
See Appendix ( i ). 

The Act gives the President large powers in designating the 
classes of employees subject to its provisions, and under this power 
n,ew classes have been added from time to time until most of the 
Federal employees are now subject to the Civil Service Laws. 

i * 

' '■ ■ 

The improvement in the Federal Service since the Act of 1883 
has been so great that no person could seriously argue for a return 
to the Spoils System, and so the Merit System won its first victory, 
which is a permanent one. After the passage of the Act of 1883, 
establishing the Merit System in the Federal Service, the idea was 
adopted by many States, counties and municipalities with great 
advantage to the administration of public affairs. But no well- 
advised believer in the Merit System thinks that the present sys¬ 
tem is in all respects what it ought to be. In fact, with the tendency 
to increase governmental activities in many fields, it becomes 

?: i • ! ' ■ 


9. of i>. 

sep u 1919 


3 


necessary for the Merit System to be made much more efficient 
than it has ever been before. 

The law itself and its administration have disclosed weaknesses 
which prove that the classified service ought to include the very 
highest administrative offices (all, in fact, but the policy-determin¬ 
ing offices) so as to bring into the service ambitious persons who 
would have a chance by promotion to go to the very top. In 
addition, it has been shown that instead of too many removals 
being made by department heads, too few are made, and the em¬ 
ployees sometimes get the idea that they have a life tenure whether 
or not they do their work properly. 

These things, together with the efficiency ratings, are the matters 
which chiefly need improvement in the administration of the Merit 
System now, and they are receiving the earnest attention of the 
National Civil Service Reform League and of many administrators, 
both Federal and State. 

The Merit System in Maryland 

In Maryland the history of the Merit System can be briefly told. 
In the year 1896 it was proposed to amend our State constitution 
substantially in the way done in New York, though many persons 
thought it better to leave the subject wholly within the control of 
the Legislature. However, a proposed constitutional amendment 
in the shape of a bill was introduced in the Legislature of 1896, but 
in the last hurried days of the session it was amended in such a 
way as to make it of doubtful construction and limited application. 
Because of this amendment the Civil Service Reform Association 
of Maryland refused to indorse the bill. The independent papers, 
which had theretofore favored it, ignored it, and the matter was 
allowed practically to go by default, so that the proposed amend¬ 
ment was defeated at the polls. 

In the year 1898, in the new charter of Baltimore City, Section 
101, it was provided that the appointment and promotion of school 
teachers should be made only after examination by the Superin¬ 
tendent of Public Instruction and his assistants, and while perhaps 
this provision has not always been properly enforced, it has resulted 
in a great improvement over the situation existing before its 
enactment. See Appendix (2). 

Again, by the Ordinance of December 1, 1899 (Baltimore City 
Code, page 743), there was created an Examining Board for the 


* 


4 


Fire Department, and all applicants for positions in the Fire De¬ 
partment were required by it to take examinations. See Appendix 
(3). As a rule this ordinance has been well enforced, though an 
attempt was made to weaken it by the passage of the Ordinance 
of April 16, 1917, passed for the purpose of removing Fire Depart¬ 
ment probationers from its operation. 

In the year 1900, during the incumbency of John Walter Smith 
as Governor, a bill was introduced in the Legislature providing for 
a Board of Police Examiners for Baltimore City and requiring 
examinations for the appointment and promotion of policemen. 
This bill was introduced early in the session and became a law on 
February 13, 1900. See City Charter, Section 745-A, etc., or see 
Appendix (4). 

x m , 1 

In the case of Keyser vs. Upshur, 92 Md., 726, the Court of Ap¬ 
peals, in an unfortunate decision, held that this Board of Examiners 
could nominate as many persons on a list as they desired, not¬ 
withstanding the number of positions to be fdled, and that after 
the submission of such list to the Board of Police Commissioners, 
this latter Board could then select indiscriminately any names 
they chose from the list. The result of this decision was to nullify 
the provision of the law requiring that the candidates, after com¬ 
petitive examinations, should be arranged in graded lists according 
to their proficiency in the examinations. In other words, persons 
who could merely pass could be appointed to positions rather than 
those who in competition had proved themselves to be better. 

The natural result of pass examinations is to make the examina¬ 
tions easy and to lower the requirements for admission, and for 
this reason the law is inadequate, but it is such an improvement 
over the old system that it has come to stay, and simply needs 
improvements to make it more effective. 

A recent act extending the Alerit System to a strictly State agency 
for the first time is the Act of 1918, Chapter 224, Bagby’s Code, 
Volume IV, Sections 82-1 to 82-S, inclusive. It provides for an 
unpaid Board of three Commissioners for the State Boads Com¬ 
mission, and limits the State Boads Commission in its appoint¬ 
ments to such persons as comply with the provisions of the law 
and the rules adopted by the Board of Examiners. This law 
declares its purpose to be the “selection of employees because of 
their fitness for the positions.” See Appendix (5). 


r* 

O 


In addition, the General Assembly in providing legislation for 
defining the powers of such counties as may adopt home rule 
under Article XI-A of the Maryland Constitution, gave such 
counties the right “to establish a Merit System.” Acts of 1918, 
Chapter 456, Section 3-R. See Appendix {6). 

The most recent and important Merit System law in this State 
was brought into being by a vote of the people of Baltimore City 
on November 5, 1918, at which time the new charter of Baltimore 
City, which had been prepared by the Charter Board elected 
November 6, 1917, was adopted. This new charter is identical 
with the charter theretofore in force except it has added to it 
Sections 203-A to 203-Q, inclusive, which embody the Merit System. 
See Appendix (7). 

The vote in favor of the Merit System charter was 37,330, and 
the vote opposed to it was 13,176. It received a majority in every 
ward of the city except the First Ward. See Maryland Almanac, 
1919, page 93. The charter was prepared under Article XI-A of 
the Constitution of Maryland. It is provided that three unpaid 
Commissioners shall enforce the law, their terms being so arranged 
that one Commissioner goes out of office every two years. The 
Commission is given large powers as to the classification of em¬ 
ployees, and as to which of the classes shall be subject to the law. 

The appointing officers can only appoint from “the five persons 
standing highest” on the list in the competitive class, thus prevent¬ 
ing another decision such as Keyser vs. Upshur, referred to above, 
which permits pass examinations. It is made unlawful for any 
fiscal officer of the city to pay any employee whose name does 
not appear on the roster provided by the Commission, and this is 
a very important provision. 

It is believed that with the appointment of a good Commission 
to carry out the Merit System provisions of the new charter, and 
with plenty of publicity to keep the matter before the people, 
this system will be given such an impetus as to prove of the 
greatest value to the city. 

Attention should also be called to Article IV, Sections 26 and 
37 of the Constitution of Maryland, which are germane and which 
apparently are not very well known. 

These sections give the Judges in the respective Circuits and 
Baltimore City large powers over the appointment and removal 
of clerks. See Appendix ( 8 ). 


6 


These sections were construed in Smith vs. Turner , 101 Md., 
584 at 588-91, and it would not seem to be a stretching of these 
constitutional provisions for the Judges to rule that they will not 
confirm any new deputy clerks unless they pass examinations to 
be prescribed by the Judges. 

Civil Service Reform Association of Maryland 

The Civil Service Reform Association of Maryland is a local 
branch of the National Civil Service Reform League , with head¬ 
quarters in New York. The Maryland Association has been directly 
or indirectly responsible for every piece of Merit System legislation 
enacted in the State of Maryland, and it realizes now more than 
ever that to help the movement forward it must increase its mem¬ 
bership and keep the matter continually before the public. 

No law enforces itself, and while beyond question the Merit 
System is a big advance over the Spoils System, yet its adminis¬ 
tration must be constantly watched in order to get the best results. 
It is the purpose of the Maryland Association to try and help the 
various Commissions in every way in enforcing and administering 
the Merit System laws, and it also proposes to olfer its counsel 
and services to all persons who may feel that they have been dealt 
with improperly under these laws. 

In conclusion, it may be said that the whole aspect of the Merit 
System has changed. The first fight against the Spoils System has 
to a great extent been won, but it now remains to make the Merit 
System more efficient. It is a fact, though not so well known, 
that the large business corporations of this country have recently 
formed an association of employment managers, and these persons 
have undertaken to adopt and enforce Merit System rules for the 
employment, promotion and discharge of employees in lieu of the 
old-fashioned methods of hiring and firing, which have been found 
to be inefficient. In other words successful business men have at 
last awakened to the fact that the selection of employees must be 
done by a system. The business of the Civil Service Reform 
League is to keep the Merit System continually before the public, 
to insist on the appointment of good Civil Service Commissioners, 
and to see that the Civil Service laws and their administration are 
made and kept in a workable and efficient state. 

Raltimore, Md., June 5, 21919. 


APPENDIX 


i 


Containing the United States and Maryland Statutes 

Relating to the 


MERIT SYSTEM 









APPENDIX 


I. Federal Government Civil Service Commission Acts 

Secs. 3271-3287— U. S. Compiled Statutes. 

Sec. 3271. (Act Jan. 16, 1883, c. 27, Sec. 1.) Civil Service Commission; 

appointment; removal; vacancies; salaries and expenses. 

The President is authorized to appoint, by and with the advice and consent 
of the Senate, three persons, not more than two of whom shall be adherents of 
the same party, as Civil Service Commissioners, and said three commissioners 
shall constitute the United States Civil Service Commission. Said commissioners 
shall hold no other official place under the United States. 

The President may remove any commissioner; and any vacancy in the position 
of commissioner shall be so filled by the President, by and with the advice and 
consent of the Senate, as to conform to said conditions for the first selection of 
commissioners. 

The commissioners shall each receive a salary of three thousand five hundred 
dollars a year. And each of said commissioners shall be paid his necessary 
traveling expenses incurred in the discharge of his duty as a commissioner. 
(22 Stat. 403.) 

Sec. 3272. (Act Jan. 16, 1883, c. 27, Sec. 2.) Duties of commissioners. 

It shall be the duty of said commissioners: 

(1) Preparation of rules. 

First: To aid the President, as he may request, in preparing suitable rules 
for carrying this act into effect, and when said rules shall have been promulgated 
it shall be the duty of all officers of the United States in the departments and 
offices to which any such rules may relate to aid, in all proper ways, in carrying 
said rules, and any modifications thereof, into effect. 

(2) Provisions of rules. 

Second: And, among other things, said rules shall provide and declare, as 
nearly as the conditions of good administration will warrant, as follows: 

1. Competitive examinations. 

First: For open competitive examinations for testing the fitness of 
applicants for the public service now classified or to be classified hereunder. 
Such examinations shall be practical in their character, and so far as may 
be shall relate to those matters which will fairly test the relative capacity 
and fitness of the persons examined to discharge the duties of the service 
into which they seek to be appointed. 

2. Selection of officers, etc., according to results of examinations. 

Second: That all the offices, places, and employments so arranged or 
to be arranged in classes shall be filled by selections according to grade 
from among those graded highest as the results of such competitive 
examinations. 

3. Apportionment of appointments; applications for examinations. 

Third: Appointments to the public service aforesaid in the depart¬ 
ments at Washington shall be apportioned among the several States and 
Territories and the District of Columbia upon the basis of population 
as ascertained at the last preceding census. Every application for an 
examination shall contain, among other things, a statement, under oath, 
setting forth his or her actual bona fide residence at the time of making 
the application, as well as how long he or she has been a resident of such 
place. 


9 



10 


4. Probation before absolute appointment. 

Fourth: That there shall be a period of probation before any absolute 
appointment or employment aforesaid. 

5. Contributions for political purposes. 

Fifth: That no person in the public service is for that reason under 
anv obligations to contribute to any political fund, or to render any 
political service, and that he will not be removed or otherwise prejudiced 
for refusing to do so. 

6. Political coercion by officers. 

Sixth: That no person in said service has any right to use his offi¬ 
cial authority or influence to coerce the political action of any person 
or body. 

7. Non-competitive examinations in certain cases. 

Seventh: There shall be non-competitive examinations in all proper 
cases before the commission, when competent persons do not compete, 
after notice has been given of the existence of the vacancy, under such 
rules as may be prescribed by the commissioners as to the manner of 
giving notice. 

8. Notice of appointments, rejections, transfers, resignations, and remov¬ 
als; exceptions to be set forth with rules. 

Eighth: That notice shall be given in writing by the appointing 
power to said commission of the persons selected for appointment or 
employment from among those who have been examined, of the place 
of residence of such persons, of the rejection of any such persons after 
probation, of transfers, resignations, and removals, and of the date thereof, 
and a record of the same shall be kept by said commission. And any 
necessary exceptions from said eight fundamental provisions of the rules 
shall be set forth in connection with such rules, and the reasons therefor 
shall be stated in the annual reports of the commission. 

(3) Regulations for examinations, and records. 

Third: Said commission shall, subject to the rules that may be made by the 
President, make regulations for, and have control of, such examinations, and, 
through its members or the examiners, it shall supervise and preserve the records 
of the same; and said commission shall keep minutes of its own proceedings. 

(4) Investigations and reports on execution of act. 

Fourth: Said commission may make investigations concerning the facts, and 
may report upon all matters touching the enforcement and effects of said rules 
and regulations, and concerning the action of any examiner or board of examiners 
hereinafter provided for, and its ow n subordinates, and those in the public service, 
in respect to the execution of this act. 

(5) Annual reports. 

Fifth: Said commission shall make an annual report to the President for 
transmission to Congress, showing its own action, the rules and regulations and 
the exceptions thereto in force, the practical effects thereof, and any suggestions 
it may approve for the more effectual accomplishment of the purposes of this act. 

Sec. 3273. (Act Aug. 23, 1912, c. 350, Sec. 1.) Members and representa¬ 

tives of commission authorized to administer oaths to witnesses. 

Members of the Civil Service Commission and its duly authorized representa¬ 
tives are hereafter authorized to administer oaths to witnesses in any matter 
depending before the Civil Service Commission. (37 Stat. 372.) 


11 


Sec. 3274. (Act Jan. 16, 1883, c. 27, Sec. 3.) Chief examiner; secretary 

of commission, and employees; boards of examiners; times and places 
for examinations. 

Said commission is authorized to employ a chief examiner, a part of whose 
duty it shall be, under its direction, to act with the examining boards, so far 
as practicable, whether at Washington or elsewhere, and to secure accuracy, 
uniformity, and justice in all their proceedings, which shall be at all times open 
to him. The chief examiner shall be entitled to receive a salary at the rate of 
three thousand dollars a year, and he shall be paid his necessary traveling ex¬ 
penses incurred in the discharge of his duty. The commission shall have a 
secretary, to be appointed by the President, who shall receive a salary of one 
thousand six hundred dollars per annum. It may, when necessary, employ a 
stenographer, and a messenger, who shall be paid, when employed, the former 
at the rate of one thousand six hundred dollars a year, and the latter at the rate 
of six hundred dollars a year. The commission shall, at Washington, and in 
one or more places in each State and Territory where examinations are to take 
place, designate and select a suitable number of persons, not less than three, 
in the official service of the United States, residing in said State or Territory, 
after consulting the head of the department or office in which such persons 
serve, to be members of boards of examiners, and may at any time substitute 
any other person in said service living in such State or Territory in the place 
of any one so selected. Such boards of examiners shall be so located as to make 
it reasonably convenient and inexpensive for applicants to attend before them; 
and where there are persons to be examined in any State or Territory, examina¬ 
tions shall be held therein at least twice in each year. It shall be the duty of 
the collector, postmaster, and other officers of the United States, at any place 
outside of the District of Columbia where examinations are directed by the 
President or by said board to be held, to allow the reasonable use of the public 
buildings for holding such examinations, and in all proper ways to facilitate 
the same. (22 Stat. 404.) 

Sec. 3275. {Act Jan. 16,1883, c. 27, Sec. 4.) Rooms and accommodations 
for commission. 

It shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to cause suitable and con¬ 
venient rooms and accommodations to be assigned or provided, and to be fur¬ 
nished, heated, and lighted at the city of Washington, for carrying on the work 
of said commission and said examinations and to cause the necessary stationery 
and other articles to be supplied, and the necessary printing to be done for said 
commission. (22 Stat. 405.) 

Sec. 3276. {Act Jan. 16, 1883, c. 27, Sec. 5.) Violation of duties, etc., by 
commissioners, officers, etc. 

Any said commissioner, examiner, copyist, or messenger, or any person in the 
public service who shall willfully and corruptly, by himself or in cooperation 
with one or more other persons, defeat, deceive or obstruct any person in respect 
of his or her right of examination according to any such rules or regulations, or 
who shall willfully, corruptly and falsely mark, grade, estimate, or report upon 
the examination or proper standing of any person examined hereunder, or aid 
in so doing, or who shall willfully and corruptly make any false representations 
concerning the same or concerning the person examined, or who shall willfully 
and corruptly furnish to any person any special or secret information for the 
purpose of either improving or injuring the prospects or chances of any person 
so examined, or to be examined, being appointed, employed, or promoted, shall 
for each such offense be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction 
thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars, nor 
more than one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not less than ten days, 
nor more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment. (22 Stat. 405.) 


12 


Sec. 3277. ( Act Jan. 16, 1883, c. 27, Sec. 6.) 

(1) Classification of clerks and employees in customs districts. 

Within sixty days after the passage of this act it shall be the duty of the 
Secretary of the Treasury, in as near conformity as may be to the classification 
of certain clerks now existing under the one hundred and sixty-third section of 
the Revised Statutes, to arrange in classes the several clerks and persons em¬ 
ployed by the collector, naval officer, surveyor, and appraisers, or either of them, 
or being in the public service, at their respective offices in each customs district 
where the whole number of said clerks and persons shall be all together as many 
as fifty. And thereafter, from time to time, on the direction of the President, 
said Secretary shall make the like classification or arrangement of clerks and 
persons so employed in connection with any said office or offices, in any other 
customs district. And upon like request, and for the purposes of this act, said 
Secretary shall arrange in one or more of said classes, or of existing classes, any 
other clerks, agents, or persons employed under his department in any said 
district not now classified; and every such arrangement and classification upon 
being made shall be reported to the President. 

(2) Classification of clerks and employees at post-offices. 

Second: Within said sixty days it shall be the duty of the Postmaster-General, 
in general conformity to said one hundred and sixty-third section, to separately 
arrange in classes the several clerks and persons employed, or in the public 
service, at each post-office, or under any postmaster of the United States, where 
the whole number of said clerks and persons shall together amount to as many 
as fifty. And thereafter, from time to time, on the direction of the President, 
it shall be the duty of the Postmaster-General to arrange in like classes the 
clerks and persons so employed in the postal service in connection with any 
other post-office; and every such arrangement and classification upon being 
made shall be reported to the President. 

(3) Revision of classification and inclusion, by heads of executive departments, of 
places, clerks, etc., not before classified. 

Third: That from time to time said Secretary, the Postmaster-General, and 
each of the heads of departments mentioned in the one hundred and fifty-eighth 
section of the Revised Statutes, and each head of an office, shall, on the direction 
of the President, and for facilitating the execution of this act, respectively revise 
any then existing classification or arrangement of those in their respective depart¬ 
ments and offices, and shall, for the purposes of the examination herein provided 
for, include in one or more of such classes, so far as practicable, subordinate 
places, clerks, and officers in the public service pertaining to their respective 
departments not before classified for examination. (22 Stat. 405.) 

Sec. 3278. ( Act Jan. 16, 1883, c. 27, Sec. 7.) Appointments and promo¬ 

tions in classified service to be made only upon examination; officers 
and persons not required to be classified. 

After the expiration of six months from the passage of this act no officer or 
clerk shall be appointed, and no person shall be employed to enter or be promoted 
in either of the said classes now existing, or that may be arranged hereunder 
pursuant to said rules, until he has passed an examination, or is shown to be 
specially exempted from such examination in conformity herewith. Rut nothing 
herein contained shall be construed to take from those honorably discharged 
from the military or naval service any preference conferred by the seventeen 
hundred and fifty-fourth section of the Revised Statutes, nor to take from the 
President any authority not inconsistent with this act conferred by the seven¬ 
teen hundred and fifty-third section of said statutes; nor shall any officer not 
in the executive branch of the government, or any person merely employed as 
a laborer or workman, be required to be classified hereunder: nor, unless by 
direction of the Senate, shall any person who has been nominated for confirma¬ 
tion by the Senate be required to be classified or to pass an examination. (22 
Stat. 406.) 


13 


Sec. 3279. ( Ad Oct. 22, 1913, c. 32.) Appointments of deputy collec¬ 
tors of internal revenue and deputy marshals, required to give bond, 
without regard to provisions of Civil Service Act; revocations, by officer 
requiring said bond, of appointments of subordinates and appoint¬ 
ments of successors, at discretion. 

Hereafter any deputy collector of internal revenue or deputy marshal who 
may be required by law or by authority or direction of the collector of internal 
revenue or the United States marshal to execute a bond to the collector of internal 
revenue or United States marshal to secure faithful performance of official duty 
may be appointed by the said collector or marshal, who may require such bond 
without regard to the provisions of an Act of Congress entitled “An Act to regu¬ 
late and improve the civil service of the United States,” approved January 
sixteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-three, and amendments thereto, or any 
rule or regulation made in pursuance thereof, and the officer requiring said bond 
shall have power to revoke the appointment of any subordinate officer or em¬ 
ployee and appoint his successor at his discretion without regard to the Act, 
amendments, rules, or regulations aforesaid. (38 Stat. 208.) 

Sec. 3280. ( Act Jan. 16, 1883, c. 27, Sec. 8.) Persons habitually using 

intoxicants to excess not to be appointed or retained. 

No person habitually using intoxicating beverages to excess shall be appointed 
to, or retained in, any office, appointment, or employment, to which the pro¬ 
visions of this act are applicable. (22 Stat. 406.) 

Sec. 3281. ( Act Jan. 16, 1883, c. 27, Sec. 9.) Restriction on appoint¬ 

ments of members of same family. 

Whenever there are already two or more members of a family in the public 
service in the grades covered by this act, no other member of such family shall 
be eligible to appointment to any of said grades. (22 Stat. 406.) 

Sec. 3282. ( Act Jan. 16, 1883, c. 27, Sec. 10.) Recommendations by Sen¬ 

ators or Representatives, except as to character or residence, not to be 
considered in examinations or appointments. 

No recommendation of any person who shall apply for office or place under 
the provisions of this act which may be given by any Senator or member of the 
House of Representatives, except as to the character or residence of the appli¬ 
cant, shall be received or considered by any person concerned in making any 
examination or appointment under this act. (22 Stat. 406.) 

Sec. 3283. ( Act July ' 11, 1890, c. 667, Sec. 1.) Applications for examina¬ 

tions to be accompanied by a certificate of residence. 

Hereafter every application for examination before the Civil Service Commis¬ 
sion for appointment in the departmental service in the District of Columbia, 
shall be accompanied by a certificate of an officer, with his official seal attached, 
of the county and State of which the applicant claims to be a citizen, that such 
applicant was, at the time of making such application, an actual and bona fide 
resident of said county and had been such resident for a period of not less than 
six months next preceding; but this provision shall not apply to persons who 
may be in the service and seek promotion or appointment in other branches of 
the government. (26 Stat. 235.) 

Sec. 3284. ( Act July 2, 1909, c. 2, Sec. 7.) Examinations to be in State, 

etc., of applicant’s residence; persons afflicted with tuberculosis not to 
be appointed; certificate of health to accompany application; restric¬ 
tion on appointments from same family. 

Hereafter all examinations of applicants for positions in the government 
service, from any State or Territory, shall be had in the State or Territory in 
which such applicant resides, and no person shall be eligible for such examina¬ 
tion or appointment unless he or she shall have been actually domiciled in such 
State or Territory for at least one year previous to such examination; provided, 


14 


however, that no person afflicted with tuberculosis shall be appointed and that 
each applicant for appointment shall accompany his or her application with a 
certificate of health from some reputable physician; provided, however, that in 
no instance shall more than one person be appointed from the same family. 
(36 Stat. 3.) 

Sec. 3284-A. (Res. March 27, 1918, c .) Examinations may be held in 
District of Columbia during period of present war. 

The Act of July second, nineteen hundred and nine (Thirty-sixth Statutes at 
Large, Numbered One) is hereby amended so as to permit the United States 
Civil Service Commission, during the period of the present war, to hold examina¬ 
tions of applicants for positions in the government service in the District of 
Columbia, and to permit applicants from the several States and Territories of 
the United States to take said examinations in the said District of Columbia and 
elsewhere in the United States where examinations are usually held. Said 
examinations shall be permitted in addition to those required to be held by 
said Act of July second, nineteen hundred and nine (Thirty-sixth Statutes at 
Large, Numbered One); provided, that nothing herein shall be so construed as 
to abridge the existing law of apportionment or change the requirements of 
existing law as to legal residence and domicile of such applicants. 

Sec. 3285. (Act Aug. 23, 1912, c. 350, Sec. 4.) System of efficiency rat¬ 

ings for classified service in executive departments based upon records; 
minimum ratings for promotion, demotion, and dismissal, subject to 
civil service rules; copies of records for commission; retention of hon¬ 
orably discharged soldiers and sailors on reductions of force; removal 
from office and punishment for violation of section. 

The Civil Service Commission shall, subject to the approval of the President, 
establish a system of efficiency ratings for the classified service in the several 
executive departments in the District of Columbia based upon records kept in 
each department and independent establishment with such frequency as to make 
them as nearly as possible records of fact. Such system shall provide a minimum 
rating of efficiency which must be attained by an employee before he may be 
promoted; it shall also provide a rating below which no employee may fall with¬ 
out being demoted; it shall further provide for a rating below which no employee 
may fall without being dismissed for inefficiency. All promotions, demotions, 
or dismissals shall be governed by^provisions of the civil service rules. Copies 
of all records of efficiency shall be furnished by the departments and independent 
establishments to the Civil Service Commission for record in accordance with 
the provisions of this section; provided, that in the event of reductions being 
made in the force in any of the executive departments no honorably discharged 
soldier or sailor whose record in said department is rated good shall be discharged 
or dropped, or reduced in rank or salary. 

Any person knowingly violating the provisions of this section shall be sum¬ 
marily removed from office, and may also upon conviction thereof be punished 
by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not 
more than one year. (37 Stat. 413.) 

Sec. 3286. (Act March 4, 1913, c. 152, Sec. 1.) Reports by commission 
as to administrative needs of personnel in executive departments, etc., 
and as to system of efficiency ratings. 

Establishment and maintenance of system of efficiency ratings for initial year: 
For the establishment and maintenance of system of efficiency ratings for initial 
year, $15,000, to be immediately available. The Civil Service Commission shall 
investigate and report to the President, with its recommendations, as to the 
administrative needs of the service relating to personnel in the several executive 
departments and independent establishments in the District of Columbia, and 
report to Congress details of expenditure and of progress of work hereunder at 
the beginning of each regular session; provided, that no person shall be employed 
hereunder at a compensation in excess of $4,000 per annum. (37 Stat. 750.) 


15 


Sec. 3286a. ( Act July 16, 1914, c. 141, Sec. 1.) Executive order for an¬ 

nual submission to commission of outline of organization of govern¬ 
ment, suspended. 

The operation of the Executive order of March twenty-eighth, nineteen hundred 
and twelve, for the annual submission to the Civil Service Commission of an out¬ 
line of organization of the Government of the United States is suspended until 
otherwise provided by law. (36 Stat. 465.) 

Sec. 3286b. ( Act March 4, 1915, c. 141, Sec. 1.) System of efficiency rat¬ 

ings; Division of Efficiency; appointment of chief; reports; limit of 
compensation of employees. 

Division of Efficiency: For establishment and maintenance of system of 
efficiency ratings, pursuant to section four of the legislative, executive, and 
judicial appropriation Act for the fiscal year nineteen hundred and thirteen, 
for investigation of the needs of the several executive departments and inde¬ 
pendent establishments with respect to personnel; and for investigation of 
duplication of statistical and other work and methods of business in the various 
branches of the government service; including not more than $2,500 for equip¬ 
ment, supplies, stationery, books, and printing, and not more than $50 for 
street car fare, $30,000; the chief of the Division of Efficiency herein provided 
for shall be appointed by the President and shall report to Congress at the 
beginning of each regular session, through the President, the nature and progress 
of work undertaken by the division together with a detailed statement of ex¬ 
penditures showing the persons employed, their duties and the compensation 
paid to each; provided, that no person shall be employed hereunder at a compen¬ 
sation in excess of $4,000 per annum. (38 Stat. 1007, 1008.) 

Sec. 3286c. {Act Feh. 28, 1916, c. 37, Sec. 1.) Division of Efficiency 
changed to Bureau of Efficiency; independent establishment; transfer 
of officers, employees, records, etc. 

Hereafter the Division of Efficiency of the Civil Service Commission shall be 
an independent establishment and shall be known as the Bureau of Efficiency; 
and the officers and employees of the said division shall be transferred to the 
Bureau of Efficiency without reappointment, and the records and papers per¬ 
taining to the work of the said division and the furniture, equipment, and sup¬ 
plies that have been purchased for it shall be transferred to the said bureau. 
(39 Stat.) 

Sec. 3286d. {Act Feb. 28, 1916. c. 37, Sec. 1.) Bureau of Efficiency; 
duties imposed on Civil Service Commission transferred to. 

The duties relating to efficiency ratings imposed upon the Civil Service Com¬ 
mission by section four of the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation 
Act approved August twenty-third, nineteen hundred and twelve, and the duty 
of investigating the administrative needs of the service relating to the personnel 
in the several executive departments and independent establishments, imposed 
on the Civil Service Commission by the legislative, executive, and judicial 
appropriation Act approved March fourth, nineteen hundred and thirteen, are 
transferred to the Bureau of Efficiency. (39 Stat.) 

Sec. 3286e. {Ad March 3, 1917, c. 163, Sec. 1.) Bureau of Efficiency; in¬ 
vestigation of methods of examining and auditing claims, etc. 

The Bureau of Efficiency shall investigate the methods of examining and 
auditing claims against the United States and accounts of disbursing officers, 
and of accounting for receipts and disbursements and shall submit a report to 
the Secretary of the Treasury and to Congress with recommendations, at its 
next regular session. 

Sec. 3286f. {Ad March 3, 1917, c. 163, Sec. 1.) Bureau of Efficiency; in¬ 
vestigation of work of subtreasuries. 

The Bureau of Efficiency shall investigate the work performed by the sub- 
treasuries and report to the Secretary of the Treasury and to Congress at the 


16 


beginning of the next regular session what part of the work of the subtreasuries 
may be transferred to other offices of the government, banks of the Federal 
Reserve System or Farm Loan Banks, and for the purpose of this investigation 
the representatives of the Bureau of Efficiency shall have access to all necessary 
books and other records of the government. 

Sec. 3286g. ( Act March 3, 1917, c. 163, Sec. 1.) Bureau of Efficiency; in¬ 

vestigation of methods of transacting public business in Civil Service 
Commission. 

The Bureau of Efficiency shall investigate the methods of transacting the 
public business in the Civil Service Commission and report to Congress through 
the President at the next regular session of Congress. The officers and employees 
of the Civil Service Commission are hereby directed to furnish said bureau with 
such information as it may require to carry out this provision. 

Sec. 3286h. ( Act March 3, 1917, c. 163, Sec. 1.) Bureau of Efficiency; in¬ 

vestigation of rates of pay of employees of States, etc. 

The Bureau of Efficiency shall ascertain the rates of pay of employees of 
various State and municipal governments and commercial institutions in different 
parts of the United States, and shall submit to Congress at its next regular 
session a report showing how such rates compare with the rates of pay of em¬ 
ployees of the Federal Government performing similar services. 

Sec. 3286i. {Act March 3, 1917, c. 163, Sec. 1.) Bureau of Efficiency; in¬ 
formation furnished to by executive departments, etc. 

Officers and employees of the executive departments and other establishments 
shall furnish authorized representatives of the Bureau of Efficiency with all 
information that the bureau may require for the performance of the duties 
imposed on it by law, and shall give such representatives access to all records 
and papers that may be needed for that purpose. 

Sec. 3286j. {Act March 3, 1917. c. 163, Sec. 1.) Bureau of Efficiency; in¬ 
vestigation of classification, etc., of employees of departments, etc. 

The Bureau of Efficiency shall investigate the classification, salary, and effi¬ 
ciency of the employees of the departments and independent establishments of 
the government in the District of Columbia and report fully or partially to 
Congress by January first, nineteen hundred and. eighteen, as to needed equali¬ 
zation or reclassification, and if a partial report be submitted then a full report 
shall be submitted as soon thereafter as possible with such recommendations as 
the bureau may deem proper. 

Sec. 3286k. {Act March 3, 1917,c. 163. Sec. 8.) Bureau of Efficiency; in¬ 
vestigation of duplication of service in departments, etc. 

The Bureau of Efficiency shall investigate duplication of service in the various 
executive departments and establishments of the government, including bureaus 
and divisions, and make a report to the President thereon, and the President is 
hereby authorized, after such report shall have been made to him, wherever he 
finds such duplications to exist to abolish the same. Report of the action taken 
hereunder shall be made to Congress at its next regular session. 

Sec. 3287. {Act Aug. 24, 1912, c. 389, Sec. 6.) Removals from classified 
civil service only for cause, to promote efficiency; notice of charges, 
answer, etc.; record of removal, and copies thereof; membership in 
organization of postal employees for improving conditions, etc., not 
cause for reduction in rank, etc., for removal; right to petition, etc., 
Congress, not to be denied. 

No person in the classified civil service of the United States shall be removed 
therefrom except for such cause as will promote the efficiency of said service 
and for reasons given in writing, and the person whose removal is sought shall 
have notice of the same and of any charges preferred against him, and be fur¬ 
nished with a copy thereof, and also be allowed a reasonable time for personally 
answering the same in writing; and affidavits in support thereof; but no exam- 


17 


ination of witnesses nor any trial or hearing shall he required, except in the 
discretion of the officer making the removal; and copies of charges, notice of 
hearing, answer, reasons for removal, and of the order of removal shall be made 
a part of the records of the proper department or office, as shall also the reasons 
for reduction in rank or compensation; and copies of the same shall be furnished 
to the person affected upon request, and the Civil Service Commission also shall, 
upon request, be furnished copies of the same; provided, however, that mem¬ 
bership in any society, association, club, or other form of organization of postal 
employees not affiliated with any outside organization imposing an obligation 
or duty upon them to engage in any strike, or proposing to assist them in any 
strike, against the United States, having for its objects, among other things, 
improvements in the condition of labor of its members, including hours of labor 
and compensation therefor and leave of absence, by any person or groups of 
persons in said postal service, or the presenting by any such person or groups 
of persons of any grievance or grievances to the Congress or any member thereof 
shall not constitute or be cause for reduction in rank or compensation or removal 
of such person or groups of persons from said service. The right of persons 
employed in the civil service of the United States, either individually or collec¬ 
tively, to petition Congress, or any member thereof, or to furnish information 
to either House of Congress, or to any committee or member thereof, shall not 
be denied or interfered with. (37 Stat. 555.) 


MARYLAND LAWS 
II. Schools 

Sec. 101. (Baltimore City Charter of 1898.) Superintendent and Assist¬ 

ant Superintendents of Public Instruction. 

101. The duties of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and Assistant 
Superintendents of Public Instruction shall include the examination of teachers 
and their nomination to the Board of School Commissioners for appointment or 
promotion, and the supervision of schools, and the study and suggestion of 
methods by which the public school system of the City of Baltimore may be 
maintained and improved. They shall hold regular meetings as a Board of 
Superintendents of Public Instruction and keep a record of the same, which 
shall be submitted to the Board of School Commissioners. For the work of 
supervision and examination, standing committees shall be designated by the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction annually. Of every such committee, the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, or the First Assistant Superintendent of 
Public Instruction, or both, shall be members ex-officio, and the number of 
additional members shall be determined from time to time, as circumstances 
may require. Every school shall be visited at frequent intervals by the Super¬ 
intendent of Public Instruction or one of the Assistant Superintendents of 
Public Instruction, and written reports on its condition shall be fded in the 
office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with such recommendations 
as circumstances may call for. It shall be the duty of the Superintendent of 
Public Instruction and his Assistants, to devote their services exclusively to the 
public schools under such regulations as the Board of School Commissioners 
may prescribe. It shall be the duty of the said Superintendent of Public In¬ 
struction, with the aid of the Supervisor of School Buildings, to ascertain the 
sanitary condition of every school, and to report to the proper authorities what 
repairs or improvements are necessary. It shall be the duty of the Superin¬ 
tendent of Public Instruction and his assistants, as examiners, to ascertain, by 
appropriate committees, appointed as hereinbefore provided, the training, 
knowledge, aptness for teaching, and character of every future candidate for 
the place of a teacher, and to report to the Board of School Commissioners 
graded lists of those whom they deem qualified for appointment, from which 
graded lists all nominations of teachers shall be made by the Superintendent 
of Public Instruction and his assistants to the Board of School Commissioners. 




18 


All such nominations of teachers shall be made in the order in which the names 
of the nominees appear upon such graded lists. In the preparation of these 
graded lists, the Superintendent of Public Instruction and his assistants shall 
ascertain by competitive examinations the relative qualifications of those candi¬ 
dates who desire appointment, and shall place the names of the accepted candi¬ 
dates upon said graded lists in the order of their relative qualifications, so ascer¬ 
tained by such competitive examination. It shall be their duty to advise the 
Board of School Commissioners whenever called upon, or whenever they think 
it important, in respect to the course of studies, text-books or methods of instruc¬ 
tion. Whenever the Superintendent of Public Instruction and his assistants 
are in doubt what course to pursue, they shall ask instructions from the Board 
of School Commissioners, to whom they may present a majority and minority 
report, and the decision of the Board of School Commissioners shall be final, 
The Superintendent of Public Instruction and his assistants shall perform such 
other duties as may be prescribed by order of the Board of School Commissioners 
not inconsistent with this Charter. 


III. Fire Department 

Ordinance of December 1, 1899. (Baltimore City Code, p. 7U3.) Examining 
Board of Fire Department. 

20. There shall be created an Examining Board for the Fire Department 
of Baltimore City; said board to consist of the President of the Board of Fire 
Commissioners, the Chief Engineer of the Fire Department, and one other mem¬ 
ber, said member to be appointed by the Mayor in the manner prescribed in 
Sections 25 and 30 of Article IV of the Code of Public Local Laws, and holding 
his office as therein provided; the duty of which examining board shall be to 
ascertain by appropriate investigation and examination the relative qualifi¬ 
cations of all candidates for appointment or promotion in the Fire Department 
of Baltimore City, and to furnish from time to time to the Board of Fire Com¬ 
missioners graded lists of those whom they shall deem qualified for appointment 
or promotion, from which graded lists all promotions and appointments shall 
be made by said Board of Fire Commissioners, except appointment to the position 
of Chief Engineer. In the preparation of such graded lists the said examining 
board shall ascertain by competitive examinations the relative qualifications, 
physical and otherwise, of all applicants for appointment or promotion in 
said Fire Department for the performance of the duties required of them, and 
shall place the names of the accepted candidates upon said lists in the order of 
their relative qualifications, as ascertained by such competitive examinations; 
and every appointment or promotion made by the Board of Fire Commis¬ 
sioners in the said Fire Department (except to the position of Chief Engineer) 
shall be made from the three names standing highest at the time of making such 
appointment or promotion upon the graded lists of candidates for such appoint¬ 
ment or promotion. 

21. The said examinations shall be conducted by and under definite rules, to 
be adopted by said examining board from time to time, and when so adopted, 
to be recorded before the holding of every examination to which they shall be 
made applicable; and the said rules shall prescribe the system of marking by 
which the relative grades of the several candidates, whom the said examining 
board may find qualified, shall be determined upon the said lists. 

22. The name of no person appointed or promoted to any position in the 
Fire Department, after the creation of said examining board, shall be placed 
upon the payroll of said Fire Department until there shall have been first filed 
with the Comptroller a certificate of the said examining board that his promotion 
or appointment has been made in conformity with the provisions of this sub¬ 
division of this Article. 

23. The President of the Board of Fire Commissioners shall be the President 
of said examining board and the clerk of the Board of Fire Commissioners shall 



19 


perform the duties of clerk of said board. It shall be the duty of said clerk to 
keep a full and correct record of the proceedings of said examining board, and 
of all the said graded lists prepared by it, which shall at all reasonable times be 
open to public inspection, and shall perform such executive functions in connec¬ 
tion with the work of said examining board, as it may from time to time direct 
him to discharge. 

24. Each of the said members of said examining board shall before assuming 
the duties of his office take in addition to the oath prescribed in Section 25 of 
Article IV of the Code of Public Local Laws, the further oath or affirmation that 
in preparing the graded lists of candidates for promotion or appointment, he 
will in no instance and under no pretext be influenced in accepting any candidate 
for appointment or promotion as qualified, or rejecting any candidate as un¬ 
qualified, or in determining the relative grades of the qualifications of any such 
candidate by their political or religious opinions or affirmations, or by political 
influences of any kind exerted for or against them, or for any other cause or 
reason whatsoever, than the fitness or unfitness, or the capacity or lack of capacity 
of such candidate, according to the best judgment of said examiner, to efficiently 
discharge the duties of the position to which he seeks to be appointed, and the 
said oath or affirmation shall be recorded and preserved among the records of 
the Mayor’s office. 


IV. Police Department 

City Charter , Sec. 7U5-A, etc. 

745-A. There shall be appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice 
of the Senate, three sober and discreet persons, who shall be registered voters 
of the City of Baltimore, for three consecutive years next preceding the day 
of their appointment, who shall be known as the Board of Police Examiners of 
Baltimore City. Two of said Examiners shall be adherents of the two leading 
parties in the State, one of each of said parties. Any of said Board of Police 
Examiners shall be subject to removal by the Governor for official misconduct 
or incompetency, in the manner provided by law in case of other civil officers. 
Each of said Board of Police Examiners shall be appointed for two years, and 
they shall hold office until their respective successors are appointed and qualified. 
Each of said Board of Police Examiners shall receive a salary of one thousand 
two hundred dollars per annum, payable monthly. None of said Board of Police 
Examiners shall be eligible to an elective or appointive office, except under the 
militia laws of the State; as the term of any Examiner shall expire as designated 
above, his successor shall be appointed for two years, subject to the foregoing 
provisions and limitations. Before entering upon the duties of his office, each 
member of said Board of Police Examiners shall take and subscribe before the 
Judge of the Superior Court of the City of Baltimore, or the clerk thereof, the 
oath or affirmation prescribed by the sixth section of the first Article of the 
Constitution, and the further oath or affirmation that in every nomination to 
the Board of Police Commissioners for Baltimore City of any person for appoint¬ 
ment as police officer, officer of police or detective, for promotion, they shall 
in no case and under no pretext make such nomination for or on account of the 
religion or political opinions or affiliations of the person nominated by them, or 
for any other cause or reason than the fitness of such person in the best judgment 
of said Board of Police Examiners for the place to which he shall be nominated; 
and said oath or affirmation shall be recorded and preserved among the records 
of said Court. 

745-B. The said Board of Police Examiners may elect one of its members 
to be president, and may employ a secretary, who shall hold office during the 
pleasure of the board. The secretary shall receive a salary of $1,200 per annum, 
payable monthly, and his duties shall be such as may be prescribed from time 
to time by said Board of Police Examiners. 



20 


745-C. It shall be the duty of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore to 
cause suitable rooms and accommodations to be assigned and provided, and to 
be furnished, heated and lighted, in the City of Baltimore, for carrying on the 
work and examination of the said Board of Police Examiners; and said board 
may order the necessary stationery, postage stamps, official seals and other 
articles to be supplied, and the necessary printing to be done for its official use 

745-D. It shall be the duty of the said Board of Police Examiners, and they 
are hereby authorized and empowered to prescribe, amend and enforce definite 
and uniform rules and regulations for carrying this Act into effect, which rules 
and regulations, when adopted and promulgated, shall have the effect of law, 
and to ascertain the qualifications by competitive examination of every candidate 
for appointment to or promotion in the police force, created and organized under 
existing law for the City of Baltimore, except the marshal of police and captain 
of detectives, counsel and police surgeons, and to report to the Board of Police 
Commissioners for the City of Baltimore graded lists of those persons whom 
they may deem qualified for such appointment or promotion, from which graded 
lists all nominations for appointment to or promotion in said police force shall here¬ 
after be made by said Board of Police Examiners for the City of Baltimore. All 
such nominations for appointment to or promotion in said police force shall be 
made in the order in which the names of the nominees appear upon such graded 
lists, said graded lists and nominations for appointments and promotions in the said 
police force so as aforesaid furnished and made by the Board of Police Examiners 
shall last and be in effect for one year from the date the said graded lists and 
nominations were furnished, and made as herein provided, and null and void 
after the expiration of twelve months, unless said graded lists and nominations 
are sooner exhausted by appointment, promotion or rejection by the Board of 
Police Commissioners; provided that the persons whose names shall be remain¬ 
ing on said graded lists or in nomination at the expiration of the year as afore¬ 
said, shall be eligible for reexamination, and shall have opportunity to secure 
a place on the next subsequent graded list, to be made up for the grade or posi¬ 
tion to which he was eligible prior to the expiration of the graded list containing 
his name as above stated; and provided, however, that nothing herein contained 
shall apply to the graded lists already before said Board of Police Commis¬ 
sioners, but that the graded lists and nominations for the grades of captain and 
lieutenant heretofore furnished and made shall expire on December thirty-first, 
nineteen hundred and ten; and the graded lists and nominations for the grade 
of round sergeant on June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and ten; and the graded 
lists and nominations for the grade of sergeant on September thirtieth, nineteen 
hundred and ten; and the graded lists and nominations for the position of pro¬ 
bationer on March thirty-first, nineteen hundred and eleven. In the prepara¬ 
tion of the graded list, the said Board of Police Examiners shall ascertain by 
open competitive examinations the relative qualifications of the respective 
candidates for appointment or promotion, and shall place the names of the 
accepted candidates upon said graded lists in the order of their relative quali¬ 
fications, so ascertained by such competitive examinations. The examinations 
shall be public and practical in character and relate to those matters which shall 
fairly test the relative capacity and fitness of the persons to discharge the duties 
of the position in the said police force to which they desire appointment or in 
which they seek promotion, including their past record on the force. The 
graded lists shall always be open to the inspection of the public. 

745-E. Intending competitors for appointment to said police or for promo¬ 
tion therein shall file in the office of said Board of Police Examiners, a reason¬ 
able length of time before the date of any examination, a formal application, 
in which the applicant shall state under oath; 

1st. His full name and residence. 

2nd. His age, the place and date of his birth. 

3rd. His health and physical capacity for the position to which he 
aspires. 

4th. If an applicant for appointment, his business or employment, 
and residence for at least the previous three years. 


21 


5th. Such other information as may reasonably be required touching 
the applicant’s merit and fitness for service on or promotion in the said 
police force. 

Blank forms for such applications shall be furnished by the said Board of Police 
Examiners, without charge, to all persons requesting the same. The applicant 
shall fde with the said Board of Police Examiners, in connection with his appli¬ 
cation, such certificates of citizens, physicians, public officers or others having 
knowledge of the applicant, as the good of the service may require. The said 
Board of Police Examiners shall refuse to examine an applicant, or after an 
examination to certify an eligible who is found to lack any of the established 
preliminary requirements for the examination or position to which he applies; 
or who is physically so disabled as to be rendered unfit for his performance of the 
duties of the position to which he seeks appointment or promotion; or who is 
addicted to the habitual use of intoxicating beverages to excess; or who has 
been guilty of a crime or of infamous or notoriously disgraceful conduct, or who 
has been dismissed from the public service for delinquency or misconduct, or 
who has intentionally made a false statement of any material fact, or practiced, 
or attempted to practice, any deception or fraud in his application, in his exam¬ 
ination, or in securing his eligibility or appointment. 

745-F. In the appointment, promotion, reduction in rank, transfer or 
removal of any police officer, or officers of police, or any detective, by the Board 
of Police Commissioners for the City of Baltimore and in their administration 
of the Police Department of Baltimore City, ecclesiastical and party ties shall 
not be regarded, so that the Police Department of said city may be entirely out 
of the field of political and religious dilferences, controversies and influences. 
The said Board of Police Commissioners for the City of Baltimore shall confirm 
or reject all nominations for appointment or promotion of police officers, officers 
of police and detectives made to it, hereinbefore provided by the Board of 
Police Examiners of the City of Baltimore. The said Board of Police Com¬ 
missioners shall not confirm the nomination or make the appointment or pro¬ 
motion of any police officer, officer of police or detective, except the marshal of 
police and captain of detectives, counsel and surgeons, whose name does not 
appear upon the graded lists to be furnished said Board of Police Commissioners 
by the said Board of Police Examiners for the City of Baltimore. All police 
officers, officers of police and detectives, secretaries, clerks and employees, 
other than counsel and police surgeons, of the Police Department of Baltimore 
City shall be retained on the force during good behavior and efficiency by the 
said Board of Police Commissioners of the City of Baltimore, and may be removed 
by the said Board of Police Commissioners for official misconduct or inefficiency, 
and then only after written charges preferred, specifying the time, place and 
character of such misconduct and inefficiency, and trial had before the Board 
of Police Commissioners, after reasonable notice thereof. 

745-G. The detectives provided for in Section 745 of this subdivision of this 
Article shall be appointed by the Board of Police Commissioners solely from the 
uniform force below the grade of round sergeant and above the position of 
probationer; detectives shall have a grade in the permanent police force equal 
to that of round sergeant, with the right of promotion from such grade and 
subject to reduction therefrom to the next lower grade in the same manner as 
round sergeants upon the uniform force; the said detectives shall not be allowed 
to follow any other business, or profession, but shall devote their entire time to 
the discharge of their duties as detectives; they shall be selected without com¬ 
petitive examination and solely on account of their special fitness and qualifica¬ 
tion, in the judgment of the Board of Police Commissioners, to perform detective 
work; provided, however, that the Board of Police Commissioners shall have 
the power, in its discretion, to transfer from the detective service and return 
to the grade in the uniform force from which he may have been selected, any 
member of the force so as aforesaid appointed a detective, who. in the judgment 
of the said board, after reasonable length of employment in the detective service, 
may be found not qualified to satisfactorily discharge the duties of a detective, 


22 


and when so transferred and returned, such member shall only be entitled to 
receive the pay of the grade in the uniform force to which he may be transferred 
and returned. 


V. State Roads Commission 

Annotated Code , Vol. 4, Article 91, Secs. 82-1 to 82-S. 

82-1. The Governor of Maryland shall appoint three persons as members of 
a Board of Examiners for the State Roads Commission, to serve one for two 
years, one for four years and one for six years; each alternate year thereafter 
the Governor shall appoint one person as a successor to the member whose 
term shall expire, to serve for six years. Any vacancy shall be fdled by the 
Governor for the unexpired term. At no time shall more than two of the mem¬ 
bers of said Board of Examiners be adherents of the same political party. The 
members of said Board of Examiners shall serve without pay. The Governor 
may remove a member during his term of office upon stating in writing the 
reasons for removal and allowing such member an opportunity to be heard in 
his defense. 

82-J. The Board of Examiners may appoint a sercetary who shall also be 
chief examiner, and such other subordinates as may by appropriation be provided 
for. The Board of Examiners shall be furnished an office by the State Roads 
Commission in the quarters occupied by the commission. The State Roads 
Commission shall further provide the said Board of Examiners with stationery 
and such other supplies, equipment and clerical assistance as may be necessary 
to carry out the purpose and intention of this subtitle. 

82-K. In order to carry out the purpose and intention of this subtitle, which 
is the selection of employees because of their fitness for their positions to be 
filled, the Board of Examiners shall make, promulgate, and, when they deem it 
necessary, amend rules for the appointment to positions of all employees of the 
State Roads Commission except its secretary, which rules shall have the force 
and effect of law, and no appointment of any of said employees, with respect to 
any posit ion ; shall be made except according to such rules. Such rules may 
contain any provisions deemed by said board to be proper, except that they 
must provide as follows: 

1. For open, competitive examinations to test the relative fitness of applicants 
for all positions, except applicants for positions of unskilled laborers. 

2. For public advertisement of all positions to be filled, except positions of 
unskilled laborers, including in such advertisement the time and place of exam¬ 
ination of applicants, which advertisement shall be published at least ten days 
in advance in a newspaper published in the City of Baltimore, when the examina¬ 
tion is to be held in said City of Baltimore, and in a newspaper published in the 
county in which said examination is to be held, when such examination is to be 
held in a county, or if there be no such newspaper published in such county, 
then in a newspaper of general circulation there. 

3. For the creation of eligible lists upon which shall be entered the names 
of successful candidates in the order of their standing in examination. Such 
lists shall remain in force not longer than two years. 

4. For the rejection of candidates or eligibles who fail to comply with the 
reasonable requirements of the board in regard to age, residence, sex, physical 
condition, or who have been guilty of crime or of infamous or disgraceful con¬ 
duct. or who have attempted any deception or fraud in connection with an 
examination. 

5. For separate notices from the State Roads Commission to the Board of 
Examiners for each position to be filled, by competitive examination, stating 
therein the name, duties and compensation of the position and providing that 
upon receipt of said notice, and within a reasonable time thereafter, the Board 
of Examiners shall certify to the State Roads Commission the names and ad- 



23 


dresses of the three candidates standing highest upon the eligible list to which 
the position is applicable, the appointment to such position to be made by the 
State Roads Commission from one of said three candidates, 

6. For temporary employment without examination, with the consent of the 
board, in cases of emergency and pending appointment from an eligible list. 
But no such temporary employment shall continue longer than sixty days, nor 
shall successive temporary employments be allowed. 

7. For the appointment of unskilled laborers in order or priority of applica¬ 
tion after such test for fitness as the board may prescribe. 

82-L. In case of a vacancy in a position requiring peculiar and exceptional 
qualifications of a scientific, professional or expert character, upon satisfactory 
evidence that competitive examination is impracticable, and that the position 
can best be filled by the selection of some designated person of recognized attain¬ 
ments, the board may, after public hearing and by affirmative vote of all three 
members, suspend competition, but no suspension shall be general in its appli¬ 
cation to such position, and all such cases of suspension shall be reported, to¬ 
gether with the reasons therefor, in the annual reports of the board. 

82-M. All examinations and tests shall be practical, and shall relate to the 
fitness of candidates to fill the positions for which they seek appointment. A 
complete record of the proceedings of the Board of Examiners and of all examina 
tions and tests, oral, written and physical, shall be kept as public records and 
open to inspection at all reasonable times. Examinations shall be in charge 
of the chief examiner, unless otherwise directed by the Board of Examiners. 
The board may call on any persons to draw up, conduct or mark examinations, 
and when such persons are connected with the State or county service, it shall 
be deemed a part of their official duties to act as examiners without extra 
compensation. 

82-N. Any person at any time in the employ of the State Roads Commission 
may be removed from his or her position by the State Roads Commission, for 
any cause which in its opinion will promote the efficiency of the service, but 
oniy after notice to the person affected. Such notice shall be in writing, and 
shall state the reasons for such removal, and the person affected may reply thereto. 
Such papers or copies thereof shall be delivered to the Board of Examiners, and 
shall be kept by them as a part of their records. No trial or examination of 
witnesses except in the discretion of the State Roads Commission shall be required, 
and the action of the State Roads Commission in making such removals shall be 
final. 

82-0. All persons in the employ of the State Roads Commission on July 1, 
1918, shall retain their positions unless and until discharged in accordance 
therewith. 

82-P. No person seeking employment with, or now in the employ of, the 
State Roads Commission, shall be appointed or removed or in any way discrim¬ 
inated against because of his political or religious opinion or affiliation. 

82-Q. No employee of the State Roads Commission shall directly solicit, 
give or receive, or be in any manner concerned in soliciting, giving or receiving 
any contribution of any kind for any political party or purpose from any employee 
of the State Roads Commission. 

82-R. The services of said Board shall be open at all times without charge 
to the public road authorities of any county in this State who may desire infor¬ 
mation as to eligibles or assistants in securing competent employees in connec¬ 
tion with public road work in such counties. 

82-S. Any person violating the provisions of this subtitle, or any rules 
established thereunder, shall be quilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, on convic¬ 
tion. be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000),^ or 
by imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or by both fine and im¬ 
prisonment. If such person be an applicant for examination he shall be excluded 


24 


therefrom. If he be an eligible his name shall be removed from the eligible 
list, and if he be an officer or employee of the State Roads Commission, he shall 
forthwith be removed from the service. 


VI. County Home Rule Act 

Acts of 1918, Chapter Ub6, Section 3-R. County Officers. 

To provide for the appointment and removal of all county officers except 
those whose appointment or election is provided for by the Constitution or 
Public General Law, and to establish a merit system, if deemed desirable, in 
connection with the appointment of all county officials and employees not 
elected or appointed under the Constitution and the Public General Laws; to 
fix the qualifications and term of office of such county executive authority as 
may be established, and to fix its compensation. 


VII. Baltimore City Charter 

(Adopted November 5, 1918.) 

City Service Commission. 

Appointment of Commissioners. 

203-A. The Mayor, who shall be first elected under this charter, shall 
appoint, in the manner prescribed by Section 25 of this charter, on or before 
the first day of January, 1920, three persons, who shall constitute the City Service 
Commission of Baltimore, one for a term of six years, one for a term of four 
years, and one for a term of two years from the said first day of January, 1920, 
and until their respective successors are appointed and qualified, and every 
second year thereafter the Mayor shall in like manner appoint one person as 
the successor of the commissioner whose term shall expire on the next succeeding 
first day of January to serve for six years and until his successor is appointed 
and qualified. Two commissioners shall constitute a quorum. Any vacancy 
which may occur in the office of commissioner shall be filled for the unexpired 
term by appointment by the Mayor in the manner prescribed by Section 25 of 
this charter and all appointments, both original and to fill vacancies, shall be 
made from persons friendly to the Alerit System of appointment to office, and 
shall be so made that not more than two commissioners shall at the time of the 
appointment be members of the same political party. No one holding any 
public office of profit shall be appointed such commissioner. 

The Mayor may at any time remove any commissioner for inefficiency, neglect 
of duty, or malfeasance in office, having given such commissioner a copy of the 
charges against him and an opportunity to be publicly heard in person or by 
counsel in his own defense, and any such removal shall be final. 


Organization of Commission. 

203-B. The said commissioners shall annually elect one of their number to 
serve as president of the commission. All of said commissioners shall serve 
without pay. They shall appoint a chief examiner, who shall also act as Secre¬ 
tary of the Board and Register of Labor, and who, under their direction, shall 
superintend any examinations held under the provisions of this subdivision of 
this charter, supervise the administration of the rules of the commission and 
perform such other duties as the commission may prescribe, and who shall 
receive an annual salary, to be fixed by the commission, not to exceed four 
thousand dollars. 


I 




25 


The commissioners may appoint such other employees, fix their salaries, and 
incur such expenses as may be necessary, not exceeding in the aggregate the 
amount fixed therefor in the annual ordinance of estimates. 

General Duties. 

203-C. The commission shall within three months from the beginning of its 
term of office, make rules, subject to the provisions herein contained, to carry 
out the purposes of this subdivision of this charter, and to provide for appoint¬ 
ments and employments in all positions in the classified service hereinafter 
mentioned, based on merit, efficiency, character and industry, and the com¬ 
mission may, from time to time, make changes in the original rules or additions 
thereto. All such rules, changes therein and additions thereto, shall forthwith 
be printed for distribution by said commission to all persons who may apply 
therefor. 

The commission shall keep minutes of its own proceedings and all of the records, 
proceedings and papers of the commission shall be subject to inspection at any 
reasonable time. The commission shall have power to investigate all matters 
touching the execution of the provisions of this subdivision of this Charter and 
of the rules and regulations adopted by it in conformity therewith. In the 
course of such investigations, each commissioner shall have power to administer 
oaths and summon and examine witnesses as to matters relevant to such investi¬ 
gations. 

Whenever the commission shall find by means of such investigation that any 
administrative head of the city government, including any commission or 
board, or any person having power of appointment or removal in the Classified 
City Service of Baltimore, has abused such power by making appointments or 
removals for any reason other than the good of the public service, it shall so 
report to the Mayor, who shall thereupon have power to remove forthwith 
without further hearing such administrative head or person found guilty of such 
violation by the said commission. The commission shall make an annual 
report to the Mayor. 

Classified City Service. 

203-D. The commissioners shall classify all the municipal offices and posi¬ 
tions in the City of Baltimore to which appointments are made by any person 
or persons (other than the Mayor or the several branches of the City Council) 
who are, or may be, clothed by this charter or any law or ordinance relating to 
Baltimore City with the power of making appointments, excepting positions 
involving duties in teaching or supervisory capacity which are to be filled by 
the Board of School Commissioners, as provided in Sections 100 and 101 of this 
charter. Such classification shall be made, with reference to the examinations 
hereinafter provided for, as Exempt, Competitive, Non-Competitive and of the 
Labor Class. The offices and places so classified by the commission shall con¬ 
stitute the Classified City Service of Baltimore, and no appointment to any 
of such offices or places shall be made except under and according to the rules 
herein mentioned after the promulgation thereof. 

Said power of classification, however, is not to be taken as applying to any 
appointments except those made in the exercise of the powers heretofore granted, 
or which may hereafter be granted to the City of Baltimore, as provided in 
Article XI-A of the Constitution of Maryland. 

Exempt Class. 

203-E. The Exempt Class of the Classified City Service shall include all 
offices or positions, except those of laborers, for the filling of which competitive 
* or non-competitive examinations shall be decided by the City Service Commis¬ 
sion to be impracticable. But no office or position shall be deemed to be in the 
Exempt Class unless it is specifically named in said class in said rides, and the 
reasons for each such exemption shall be stated separately in the annual report 
of the commission. Appointments in the Exempt Class may be made without 
examination, but every appointing officer shall have the right, in his discretion, 
to require any applicant for such appointment by him to be examined by the 


26 


commission, or otherwise, in such manner and to such extent as he shall deem 
expedient, in order to ascertain his fitness and capacity for the position he is 
seeking. 

Competitive Class. 

203-F. The Competitive Class of the Classified City Service shall include 
all the other positions in the said service for which it is practicable, in the judg¬ 
ment of the commission, to determine the fitness of applicants by competitive 
examinations, and shall include all positions and employments now existing or 
hereafter created of whatever functions, designations or compensation, in each 
and every branch of the Classified City Service except such positions as are in 
the Exempt Class, the Non-Competitive Class or the Labor Class. 

Non-Competitive Class. 

203-G. The Non-Competitive Class shall include such positions as are not 
in the Exempt Class or Labor Class and which it is not practicable, in the judg¬ 
ment of the commission, to include in the Competitive Class. 

The Labor Class. 

203-H. The Labor Class shall include unskilled laborers and such skilled 
laborers as may be so classified by the rules and regulations of the commission. 
No person shall be included in the Labor Class whose service shall consist of 
clerical work, office work, or inspection of other work or service. 

Examination and Certification. 

203-1. The commission shall in its rules provide among other things: 

(а) For examinations and such other tests as may in its judgment be neces¬ 
sary to determine the fitness of applicants for positions in the Competitive and 
Non-Competitive Classes. 

(б) For the employment of those in the Labor Class either in the order of 
priority of application or by selection on account of fitness or by such other 
method as the board may find will produce the best results. 

(c) For the rejection of candidates who fail to comply with reasonable require¬ 
ments as to age, sex, physical condition and moral character. 

(d) For the preparation of lists of candidates eligible for employment, which 
lists in the case of the Competitive Class shall be arranged in the order of the 
relative standing of applicants as determined by the commission. 

(e) For the certification, as occasion may reqiure, to the appointing officer of 
the persons eligible to employment under the rules of the commission, provided 
that in the case of the Competitive Class such certification shall include only 
the five persons standing highest on the appropriate eligible list, or the person 
or persons on such list when it contains five names or less. 

Appointments. 

203-J. When a vacancy occurs or a new position is created in the Classified 
Service, other than the Exempt Class, the appointing officer shall fill such posi¬ 
tion provisionally by the appointment of one of the persons certified to him by 
the commission as above provided, which appointment shall be on probation 
for a period of six months. At or before the expiration of the period of proba¬ 
tion the head of the department or office in which such candidate is employed 
may, in the exercise of his discretion, remove the said probationer. Unless so 
removed during the probationary period, his appointment shall be deemed com¬ 
plete. Where an emergency arises or the services to be rendered are only for a 
temporary period, not to exceed sixty days, the appointing officer may, with 
the approval of the commission, make a temporary appointment to remain 
in force not exceeding sixty days, and only until a regular appointment under 
the provisions of this charter can be made. 

Promotions, Transfers and Reinstatements. 

203-K. The commission shall provide, in its rules, for keeping a record of 
efficiency for each employee in the Competitive Classified City Service, and for 


27 


making promotions in said service on the basis of merit, to be ascertained by 
competitive examinations, by conduct and capacity in office, and by seniority 
in service, and shall provide that vacancies shall be filled by promotions in all 
cases where, in the judgment of the commission, it shall be for the best interests 
of the service so to fill such vacancies. The commission shall also provide 
rules for transfers and reinstatements. 

Removals. 

203-L. No person shall be discharged from the Classified City Service or be 
reduced in pay or position or suspended by the appointing officer for or on 
account of his political or religious opinions or affiliations, or for refusing to 
contribute to any political fund or refusing to render any political service; but 
nothing in this subdivision of this charter shall forbid the removal, dismissal, 
reduction or suspension of any such officer or employee for any cause other than 
those hereinbefore enumerated and which, in the opinion of the person authorized 
by law to remove or dismiss such officer or employee, may interfere with the 
efficient discharge of his duties. In all cases of discharge or reduction or sus¬ 
pension for more than thirty days, the appointing officer shall furnish the subor¬ 
dinate so discharged, reduced or suspended, and also the commission, a copy of 
the order of removal and also his reasons for the same. The commission may, 
in all cases, and upon the written request of any subordinate removed after the 
termination of the probationary period, shall investigate, and if it shall find that 
the intent and spirit of the provisions of this charter have been violated in the 
said discharge, reduction or suspension, it shall report its finding to the Mayor, 
and such finding so reported shall be sufficient cause for the removal by him of 
the officer guilty of such violation. 

Each person discharged for the purpose of reducing the force and without 
fault upon his part shall receive a certificate so stating, and all persons so dis¬ 
charged shall be placed on the eligible list in the order of the length of their 
service and shall have preference over others on the eligible list. 

Roster of Employees. 

203-M. It shall be the duty of each appointing officer to report to the com¬ 
mission forthwith upon the appointment or employment of any person in the 
Classified City Service the name of such appointee or employee, the title and 
character of his office or employment, the date of commencement of service by 
virtue thereof, and to report, from time to time, and upon the date of official 
action in or knowledge of each case, any separation of a person from the service, 
or other change therein and such other information as the City Service Commis¬ 
sion may require in order to keep the roster hereinafter mentioned. The 
commission shall keep in its office an official roster of the Classified City Service 
of Baltimore, and shall enter thereon the name of every person who has been 
appointed, employed, promoted, reduced, transferred or reinstated in any posi¬ 
tion in said service. This roster shall be open to public inspection at all reason¬ 
able hours, and shall show in connection with each name the date of appoint¬ 
ment, employment, promotion, reduction, transfer or reinstatement and compen¬ 
sation of the position, its title, the nature of the duties thereof and the date and 
cause of any determination of such office or employment. 

Only Employees Whose Names Appear on Roster to be Paid. 

203-N. It shall be unlawful, after notice from the City Service Commission, 
for the Comptroller or any other fiscal officer of the city to draw, sign or issue 
or authorize the drawing, signing or issuing of any warrant on the City Register 
or other disbursing officer of the city for the payment of any salary or compensa¬ 
tion to any officer, clerk, employee or other person in the Classified City Service, 
whose name does not appear upon the roster provided for in the next preceding 
section as having been appointed and employed in conformity with the pro¬ 
visions of this subdivision of this charter and the rules adopted thereunder. 


28 


Present Incumbents. 

203-0. All persons holding positions in the city service when such positions 
are placed under the provisions of this subdivision of this charter shall be entitled 
to retain their position until discharged, reduced, promoted or transferred in 
accordance with the provisions of this subdivision of this charter. 

Political Contributions and Assessments. 

203-P. No person in the Classified City Service shall for any reason be under 
any obligation to contribute to any political fund, and no person shall know¬ 
ingly, directly or indirectly, in person or by letter, request or solicit the pay¬ 
ment of any political assessment, subscription or contribution from any person 
in the Classified City Service. 

Penalties. 

203-Q. Any violation of any of the provisions of this subdivision of this 
charter relating to the City Service Commission or any willful use of any corrupt 
means in connection with any examination, appointment, promotion, reduction, 
transfer or reinstatement shall be deemed a misdemeanor and, upon conviction 
in a court of competent jurisdiction, shall be punished by a fine of not more than 
five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for a time not exceeding twelve months, 
or by both such fine and imprisonment. 


VIII. Clerks of Courts and Deputy Clerks 

Constitution, Article IV, Secs. 26 and 37. 

Sec. 26. The said clerks shall appoint, subject to the confirmation of the 
judges of their respective courts, as many deputies under them as the said 
judges shall deem necessary to perform, together with themselves, the duties 
of the said office, who shall be removable by the said judges for incompetency, 
or neglect of duty, and whose compensation shall be according to existing or 
future provisions of the General Assembly. 

Sec. 37. There shall be a clerk of each of the said courts of Baltimore City, 
except the Supreme Bench, who shall be elected by the legal and qualified voters 
of said city, at the election to be held in said city on the Tuesday next after the 
first Monday of November, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, and 
shall hold his office for six years from the time of his election, and until his suc¬ 
cessor is elected and qualified, and be reeligible thereto, subject to be removed 
for willful neglect of duty or other misdemeanor in office, on conviction in a 
court of law. The salary of each of the said clerks shall be thirty-five hundred 
dollars a year, payable only out of the fees and receipts collected by the clerks 
of said city, and thev shall be entitled to no other perquisites or compensation. 
In case of a vacancy in the office of clerk of any of said courts, the judges of 
said Supreme Bench of Baltimore City shall have power to fill such vacancy 
until the general election of delegates to the General Assembly to be held next 
thereafter, when a clerk of said court shall be elected to serve for six years 
thereafter; and the provisions of this Article in relation to the appointment of 
deputies by the clerks of the Circuit Courts in the counties shall apply to the 
clerks of the courts in Baltimore City. 








r 


















Civil Service Reform Association 

of Maryland 

Objects 

( Constitution , Article II) 

The Association will have for its object to secure the establishment 
of a system of appointment, promotion and removal in the Civil Service 
—Municipal, State and National—founded upon the principle that 
public office is a public trust, admission to which should depend upon 
proved fitness. It will demand that appointments to subordinate exec¬ 
utive offices shall be made from persons whose fitness has been ascer¬ 
tained by competitive examinations open to all applicants properly 
qualified, and that removals shall be made for legitimate cause only, 
such as dishonesty, negligence, or inefficiency, but not for political 
opinion or refusal to render party service; and the Association will 
advocate all other appropriate measures for securing integrity, intel¬ 
ligence, efficiency, good order, and due discipline in the Civil Service. 

Annual Dues 

( Constitution , Article VIII) 

Any person may be proposed in writing for membership by any mem¬ 
ber of the Association, and shall be admitted upon approval of the 
Executive Committee. The annual dues of each member shall be two 
dollars. Members failing to pay their dues may be dropped from the 
rolls by the Executive Committee. 


Application for Membership 

Jesse N. Bowen, Esq., Treasurer, 

Equitable Building, Baltimore. 

I hereby make application for membership in the Civil Service Reform 
Association, and hand you herewith my check for $2.00 in payment of 
my annual dues for the first year of my membership. 

Name_ 

Proposed by: Occupation- 

_ Address__ 










LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




Civil Service Reform Association 

of Maryland 




SHwEfl 

eBfcS fea 

mmubb 

swflm 1 ! 


OPEN LETTER 

There is but one fundamental issue between the advocates of Civil Service Reform 
in the administration of public government and the opponents of such reform. 

That issue is the one which must ever exist between the “ Merit System ” on the one 
hand and the “Spoils System ” on the other. 

The advocates of the “Merit System ” believe that employment in the public service 
{should be based primarily upon efficiency of service to the public. 

The advocates of the “Spoils System ” believe that employment in the public service 
should be based primarily upon efficiency of service, past or prospective, to a political 
party or to some higher officeholder who controls the appointment. 

The Civil Service Reform Association of Maryland stands for the “Merit System” 
as opposed to the “Spoils System.” 

The “Merit System” laws heretofore passed in this State do not in themselves con¬ 
stitute a “Merit System” of appointment to and retention in the public service. They 
are but the foundation for such a system. 

That foundation will never be built upon unless it be done through the 
compelling force of an organized public demand for efficiency in our public 
service. 

The Civil Service Reform Association of Maryland is the organization. But we 
need more support from the general public, so that our organization will be able to 
exercise its powers in a vital, effective way. 

That support can best be given through membership in our Association. 

The dues are merely nominal—$2.00 per year. 

. 

Overleaf is a blank application for membership in this Association. 

* 

If you are not a member, will you not sign this application and thus enlist formally 
as an advocate of good government in this State? 

If you are already a member, will you not today have this application signed and 
forwarded by some other person whom you believe is or should be interested in efficient 
State, county and municipal government? 


I 







Baltimore, June 30, 1919. 
















































